


Tell The Press We're Taking A Break

by BorealisBlast



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Actually Pepper isn't in it very much, Bucky Barnes was brainwashed, But I don't hate Captain America, Civil War (Marvel), Civil War Team Iron Man, F/M, Fake Breakup, Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, It's hard juggling so many characters, Just think he made some bad decisions, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Reasonable Steve Rogers, Responsible Tony Stark, Retired Clint Barton, Steve signs the Accords, Tony Stark Feels, pregnancy au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-14 19:12:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11789622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BorealisBlast/pseuds/BorealisBlast
Summary: What if Pepper really was pregnant in Civil War? How would that have changed things?Inspired by this Tumblr post: http://spitandvinegar.tumblr.com/post/144511170433/ok-hold-up-for-one-second-let-me-take-a-short





	1. Steve Signs

**Author's Note:**

> It's after midnight, I don't have a beta, I just wanted to get this up. Let me know if it's worth continuing. (Already know how I'm going to end it, and what's going in the sequel. Not quite so sure about the stuff in the middle. I'll figure it out.)

"No, definitely..."

Tony paused, and stared at Steve carefully, his dark brown eyes evaluating. Steve straightened up, not sure what was going on, but subconsciously realizing what a serious moment this was to Tony. The silence in the room grew, until suddenly Tony finished his inspection and started talking again, as if he hadn't paused for so long. 

"We're telling the press we're taking a break."

Steve was confused, what was Tony trying to get at? 

Seeing this, Tony added "You know, for safety reasons."

His eyes grew wide as he realized what Tony was telling him. In the blink of an eye, memories flashed through his head, of holding babies, Bucky's sisters, of his mother gushing over what cute children he would make with Monica from down the street; and dreams and expectations, of marrying Peggy and having a girl and a boy, of Bucky living next door with his wife and his children, of being called Dad and Uncle Steve by a group of happy, rambunctious children. 

After all of this went through his head, he realized Tony was still watching carefully, waiting for a reaction. A large grin spread on his face and he leaped up, striding excitedly around the room, his body trying to keep pace with his mind. 

"How far along is she? Is it a boy or girl, do you know yet? What needs to be done? What do you want me to do? Who else knows?"

Tony, who had been watching with alarm during this tirade of questions, finally stood up and stuck his hand out, stopping Steve's pacing. 

"Calm down, Cap. No one knows yet, and there's a reason for that. My child is not going to have the same lack of childhood that I had. They're going to-"

"Wait, you haven't even told the rest of the Avengers?"

Tony looks frustrated for a split second before his face smoothes back down into his mask. 

"When, exactly, was I supposed to do that? The Accords took priority, which, by the way, nobody stuck around to listen to either, and then I was kinda busy trying to stop Ross from throwing you in jail!"

Steve had been trying to remain calm, to deescalate this issue, but the mention of the Accords made him lose his temper. He slammed his hand on the table. 

"The Accords are not needed! They won't work! All they do is put us under the control of people with agendas!"

Tony, never one to be out shouted, kept the argument going. 

"You didn't even read the Accords! I get that you were distracted by Aunt Peggy dying, but you can't just fight something that you didn't even read! Yes, it was a lousy move on Ross' part to only give you a few days before the signing, but that's what I was there for! I had lawyers waiting-"

Steve felt lightheaded as soon as Peggy was mentioned, and he tuned out the majority of Stark's speech before interrupting. 

"Aunt Peggy?"

Tony did some interesting facial acrobatics before trying to cover. 

"Did I say Aunt Peggy? I didn't say Aunt. I said ant, as in Ant-thony, as in that bug guy's pet ant who died. Lots of death going on lately, not a good thing."

Steve held up a hand. 

"Tony. Don't. You knew Peggy?" When Tony failed to answer, Steve sighed. "Look, I have to say I wasn't expecting that, but I really shouldn't have been surprised that Howard and Peggy kept in touch. But why didn't you tell me?" 

Tony again hesitated to answer. Steve sighed again and fiddled with the pens on the table, having sat back down at some point after he heard about Peggy. 

"Look, I'll try to understand your point of view about the Accords. But that requires communication. Let's start communicating about Peggy. Please, just be honest with me."

Tony looked up defiantly, shoulders tense, his clipped tone at odds with his words. 

"Fine. You wanna know why? That was the one thing you had left from your time. I wasn't about to take that away from you by forcing you to remember that she had a life while you were frozen all those years, that I was connected to her in a way you weren't, that I grew up with her in my life and shared all these times with her that you missed out on!"

At that, Steve felt the familiar pang of loss. True, he would have mourned those things, but he would also have been happy to be able to talk to someone about Peggy, to someone who knew her before she had grown old and frail. 

"But, we could have reminisced, we could have both visited her and shared stories and she could have told me stories about you growing up. It could have been great!"

Tony scoffed. "She already thought I was Howard half the time I visited her. I didn't need to set back her memory even more by appearing with you, O Ageless One."

There was a moment of silence while Steve processed this. Tony broke it, changing the subject.

"So. The Accords. Why don't you want to sign them?"

Steve stared at the papers for a second, taking a moment to switch his train of thought. 

"What happens if we're told to attack an innocent person?"

"Well, if you'd read them, you'd have seen that we are allowed to say no to any missions we don't want to do. Whether that's because we're emotionally compromised, or we feel it's morally ambiguous, the board can not force us to do any mission we don't want to."

Steve thought about that for a bit. If it were true, that would certainly make him a lot more willing to sign them. But that wasn't the only issue he had with it. 

"What about if someone, like Ross, wants us to do it anyways? What will he do if we refuse?"

"The main thing about that that you're not getting is that Ross is not in charge. No one person is in charge. It's a committee, composed of representatives from the 117 countries who signed, and there'll even be a token Avenger on there. Missions have to be approved by a majority of 70%, but the Avengers have the final say. True, it was a spectacularly bad move to send Ross with the initial papers, but unfortunately he is a part of this for the moment."

Steve paused at that wording, changing what he was going to say.

"For the moment?"

Tony grinned and shrugged. 

"Positions in government are always changing."

"OK, that all sounds a lot more reasonable than what I was expecting."

"See what happens when you actually read the material?! Plus, things can always be amended."

"But, what happens if there's an emergency? And there's no time for them to agree? Or if they say no to a mission?"

"Ok, there's a couple of different points in there. I'm going to cover the first one. In an emergency situation, such as a widespread alien attack, or if somehow we end up in the middle of a situation and have to react, then, all that happens, is there's a review board. After looking at all the facts, they'll ask, would we have given permission to engage? If yes, then great! All done."

"And if they would have said no?"

"You need to think about why they would have said no. Maybe you went in with faulty information and caused more harm than good. Maybe the Avengers weren't the best people to deal with it. Maybe a plan was already in place and we messed it up. Or maybe, it took place in a country that refused our help."

Again, Steve felt a surge of rage. 

"So you're saying that a dictator could be committing genocide, but because the government said no, we can't help?"

Tony sighed but otherwise remained calm. 

"I literally said none of that. It would depend on the situation, if someone's committing genocide, after we had proof, of course we would do something. But if there's a civil war going on, how do we know what side to team with? And that's if they even want our help."

"If someone's in trouble, we have the responsibility to help them!"

"We can't force our help on someone who doesn't want it."

"That's not what I'm saying! But if it's in their best interest, we have to do the best we can!"

"Staying out of the war was in your best interests."

Stunned by the change in topic, Steve floundered a moment before regaining his momentum. 

"What on Earth are you talking about, Stark? What does that have to do with anything?"

"I've seen the records, you kept trying to enlist, despite being denied multiple times. And you were denied for a reason, with all of your health issues, you wouldn't have lasted a day in actual combat. They were trying to help you stay alive by turning you down."

Steve gaped, offended. "No they weren't! I could have helped! I knew my limitations, and I would have been able to help!"

"But it was in your best interests." Tony's calm gaze was starting to irritate Steve. 

"No, it wasn't."

"There were other, more capable men who could have done more."

"I wasn't useless! I wasn't about to stay home and do nothing while others risked their lives for me!"

There was a pause, Tony letting Steve think about what he had just said. 

"So what you're saying is, even though you were limited by your health, you knew what your capabilities were."

"Yes!"

"And you weren't about to sit back and let others do your job for you."

"Of course not!"

"Just because they thought they knew what was best for you, doesn't mean they actually did. And you weren't about to let them force their so-called help on you."

"No!"

"So why would you want to do that to others?"

Steve gaped again. He was tempted to start shouting again, but couldn't because he started laughing. Tony sat up straight, alarmed at his reaction. 

"You always were a good talker, weren't you!" Steve took a moment to catch his breath. "OK, fine. I'll accept that, in certain situations, we might not be welcomed into a fight that is not ours. But there's still the matter of discipline. What happens if we do something that the review board deems inappropriate?"

"There'll be a trial, an immediate trial, mind you, no waiting months and months to get the verdict, again by a committee, again by representatives of the 117 countries, especially the ones affected, but others as well to remain neutral, and again a token Avenger. There'll be checks and balances in place to prevent any biases causing trouble, and the punishment will be fair."

"But what will the punishment be?"

"Most likely, you'd be put on probation for a bit. Maybe lose some privileges, depending on the severity of the infraction. Have to stay in the Compound for a bit, maybe not go on missions, stuff like that. Or there'll be a fine, which Pepper refuses to let me cover. Or maybe you'd be assigned some community service, cleaning up the mess you made or visiting sick kids, stuff you'd probably want to do anyways. No being put in jail, if that's what you're worried about. Not unless you continually disregard instructions and break probation. Then there'd be a fair trial and a fair time period chosen. Even then, you could get off early for good behaviour. In extreme cases, you might be kicked off the Avengers, but like I said, extreme. Most definitely not going to be a first resort, and not something I'm anticipating to happen."

Steve thought about that for a second. It all seemed fair, nothing screamed of power abuse, and he had to admit, there did have to be consequences if they messed up.

Tony seemed to sense the moment he capitulated, and slid the pen and paper towards him. Steve fiddled with the pen a moment before finally signing. Had he been looking up, he would have seen the relief on Stark's face. 

"So, now what?"

"Now we take care of your buddy. I can make the last 24 hours legit, but like it or not, he's still under investigation for the bombing."

"It wasn't him. I know Bucky, and he wouldn't do that."

"I'm not saying he did it willingly. But either way, he needs a psychiatric evaluation. Trust me, it's for his safety as well as ours. I have a device we can use to help him cope with his years as The Winter Soldier. If he wants, who knows, maybe he could even end up joining the Avengers."

Steve felt hopeful about his future for the first time in a long while. 

"And you promise me, on the life of your unborn child, that Bucky won't go to prison?"

Tony looked directly into Steve's eyes. 

"I promise you, on the life of my unborn child, Pepper is going to kill me for this, that Bucky will not be sent to prison for anything he did while being coerced during his time as The Winter Soldier. He will most definitely have to have therapy, maybe be in an institution or somewhere safe he can stay until he's fully recovered, but he will not be locked away and have the key thrown away. You have my word on that."

Steve sighed in relief. 

"I'm going to trust you with this, Tony."

"I won't let you down."

Steve looked at Tony solemnly for a moment. He knew this wasn't the best time, but there hadn't been a good time for the last 2 years. And with that talk about honesty, and communication.

Steve opened his mouth. 

"So now what? Where's Bucky now?" That was not what he had planned to say, but his courage failed him at the last moment. When this was all over, he promised himself, they would sit down and have an honest heart to heart.

"We've got a psychiatrist lined up, just about to talk to him. See how in control he is. You're welcome to watch on the video screen with us, if you like."

Steve hesitated. "Of course I'd want to watch, but does it have to be on the TV?"

"We can't allow anyone else in the room, you know it'd mess with the entire thing."

"Ok, but could I at least be in the next room? That way, if something happened, I could be there to help out."

Tony looked at him appraisingly for a second, then nodded. "I could probably manage that. Gimme a second."

Tony left the room, headed straight for Everett Ross, who thankfully was not related to Thaddeus. The two men started talking, and Steve caught Sam's eye. Looking around, he decided there was nothing stopping him from talking to him right now. 

"What's going on, man?"

Steve slid into the seat next to Sam. 

"I may have been a little hasty about the Accords."

"What are you talking about??"

Steve took a deep breath. "I signed them."

"Are you crazy?" Sam started shouting, but quickly lowered his voice when people started looking in his direction. "We discussed this! They'd just tie our hands! Why on Earth would you decide to sign them?"

"Tony explained them to me further, and everything he said made sense, OK?"

"Are you serious?"

"Look, I'm not saying that you have to sign them, but I'm just letting you know that they may not have been as far off base as I thought. Just, read them, OK? Stark offered the use of his lawyers if you have trouble with the legalese."

Sam frowned, but Steve didn't have time for this. He got up and walked towards Stark. 

"Well?"

"Yep, we can wait next door. Might be good to have a super soldier to restrain him should things go south."

Steve glared at Tony, but didn't say anything, not wanting to risk being forced to stay upstairs. Tony grabbed a tablet and put the interrogation on screen as they walked down. It didn't take too long, and Steve was happy with how the conversation was going so far. Bucky was very clearly Bucky, not the Soldier. The two men stopped outside a metal door. 

"Sorry, no chairs. But they're right behind this door." 

Tony gestured. 

Then the lights went out. 

"Friday, what's the source of the outage?" 

Tony fiddled with his glasses, while Steve was struck with worry for his best friend. He tried opening the door, but it was reinforced. He whirled around. 

"Stark, can you get this open?"

"Who do you think I am? Of course I can get this open!"

"Then do it!"

Stark scoffed at Steve's demanding tone, but fiddled with the electronic lock while Steve watched desperately, wishing he had his shield. Finally, after an eternity, the door slid open silently. 

Steve wastes no time in rushing inside, his heart skipping a beat as he saw his worst nightmare. Bucky, restrained, helpless, begging, as the psychiatrist spoke in Russian.

The movement caused them both to look up. When Bucky saw who it was, his eyes widened. "Help me." He mouthed. The psychiatrist grinned, triumphant, mouth open, about to say one more word. Steve lunged forward, wishing he had his shield, determined to stop him but knowing deep within himself he wouldn't reach in time. 

Then he heard a familiar whirring noise and a beam from Stark's repulsor hit the evaluator. Tony strolled in, casually walking past Steve, who was frozen, and kicked the fallen man. When there was no response, he continued to the cage Bucky was in. 

"Barnes? Still you in there, buddy?"

There was no response. Steve's heart leapt into his throat. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, Bucky raised his head. His eyes were wide with disbelief. 

"You, you stopped him. You stopped me. That's never happened before."


	2. Not The Only One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the Winter Solder wasn't activated by Zemo, what happens next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short, but an update, finally. Life's been busy, but I'm gonna try to update this every Saturday.

Tony scoffed. "Well of course I did, I'm awesome. Now, who's he? What did he want?"

Bucky stared for a moment, clearly still on edge from what had just happened, but managed to pull himself together. "I think he wanted to know about one of the soldier's... One of my missions. He didn't say which one though."

Tony hummed thoughtfully. "Well I guess we'll just have to ask him them, won't we?"

There was an outburst from the door as 10 armed soldiers rushed in, pointing their guns at the group. Tony remained unperturbed, while Steve carefully stepped in front of Bucky, who glared at him for putting himself in danger.

"Took you long enough gents. What was the hold up?"

The squad ignored Tony until they ascertained that the prisoner was still contained, then the leader barked a set of code words into his com unit. Seconds later, Everett Ross entered.

"And what happened here?" He growled.

Steve opened his mouth to answer but Stark cut him off. He shrugged, let Tony do the talking, he's still on their side.

"Seems your psychiatrist was less than legit. Really ought to amp up the security around here, Commander. I know a tech firm that might be helpful." Tony looked over his glasses at Ross for a second.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"You hired a dud. Instead of evaluating Frosty over here, he tried to... Hold up, he wouldn't have gone to all this fuss just to get info on one of your murders," Steve flinched at the blunt way Ton referred to Bucky's past, but Barnes didn't seem to react. "What else, exactly, was he trying to do?" Tony spun around to face Bucky.

Bucky looked almost ashamed at that, ducking his head a fraction before straightening up and hardening his face. His voice was blank and impersonal as he answered. "He was trying to turn me back into the Winter Soldier."

That announcement brought all activity in the room to a halt, except for Tony, who scoffed lightly. "Good thing we stopped him in time, then. That would have made a mess even I couldn't fix. Anyhoo, Ross, might want to book this guy. Wake him up, get some info from him, send him to jail, and done!" He stooped over and grabbed a small red book off the ground. "'I'll take this right here, don't trust anyone else to have the proper security."

Barnes trained his eyes on the book, but didn't say a word. He was still a prisoner, locked in a glass cage, and he trusted the only man who had ever stopped a Winter Soldier activation.

As Steve started walking towards Bucky, Tony continued talking as he walked out the door. "And Friday? Get me a list of the best psychiatrists, real ones this time, extensive screening and verification, no worries about the cost, Ross, this one is on me."

Ross sighed at the abrupt manner Stark used to convey his offer, but, well accustomed to the man's eccentricities, nodded and approached his head of security to start apprehending the would-be terrorist.

Steve made it to Bucky's prison, but hesitated a few feet away. He'd never seen his best friend act so hopeless, not even when he'd been imprisoned and experimented on back during the war. Sensing his gaze, Bucky looked up. They locked eyes for a moment before Bucky gave a wry grin.

"You can come closer you know, I'm not going to bite, I'm still me."

Steve gulped. "Could he really have... You know?"

Bucky's stare turned harsh. "Activated the Winter Soldier? Yes, absolutely. Not gonna tell you how, though, not here."

Steve took a step forwards, wishing he could reach out and comfort his oldest friend, but was stopped by the glass wall. Gingerly, he reached out and placed his palm on the glass, silently expressing his concert and support.

"You're safe now, you know. Stark, he's a good man, a bit brusque, but good. And if he says he's going to do something, it's as good as done."

Bucky tilted his head in contemplation.

"Stark?"

Steve wanted to gulp again, but forced himself not to, knowing his sharp eyed friend would see and be suspicious.

"Yeah, Howard's son."

Bucky nodded but frowned, something important about that nudged at the tip of his consciousness, but Steve started talking again, distracting his thought process.

"Do you have any idea what mission he wanted to know about?"

Now Bucky just looked frustrated. "He didn't get that far, he wanted to make sure I would answer before he asked anything."

"Do you remember anything that might be important? Something that was about me? Ross? One of the Avengers? The Accords?"

After each subsequent shake of the head, Steve started to expand the topic of his questions.

"The States? Wakanda? Sokovia? Nigeria? Vienna? The UN?"

Bucky kept shaking his head, none of the words triggering any memories.

"What about the Winter Soldier itself? He already knew how to... activate the Soldier, but could he have wanted more information about how to control, how to use the Soldier? Maybe he's trying to make another one?"

Bucky started to shake his head in denial, but froze midway, eyes widening, mouth opening in shock. He leaned forward, testing the limits of his bonds.

"Steve, he wouldn't have to make another Winter Soldier..."

Steve felt a lump growing in his stomach. The desperation on his friend's face did not bode well for the news he was about to impart.

"...because I wasn't the only one."

Steve found himself leaning against the cage to keep his balance. He knew the amount of damage Bucky had caused against his will, and he could only hope the others were also being coerced, were also truly good people at their core.

"Who were they?" He forced out.

Bucky looked grim. "Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in HYDRA history. And that was before the serum. After, with their skills, they could take down an entire country in one night, with absolutely no warning. Steve, even HYDRA couldn't control them. _You have to stop them before it's too late."_

Steve nodded, he had to find Tony.

*****

Stark nodded along to Steve's words, taking everything in even as he darted from computer to computer, switching from task to task with an ease Steve envied.

"And your buddy told you where the other popsicles are located?"

"Siberia."

Tony hummed. "Russia. Great. They signed the Accords, but they're still a bit touchy about letting Americans into their space. Too worried about spies, understandably."

"But that won't stop you, right?"

"Nah, I'll make it happen, don't worry. You said there were 5 of them? Any idea on how time sensitive this is?"

"We don't know who knows about this, but if the wrong people wake them up, who knows what could happen. Sounds like they were vicious, enjoying chaos and causing pain for the fun of it."

"So, urgent, but not urgent enough to take action without approval. Good, gives us time to see about adding to our merry band of Avengers. If we're going up against 5 super soldiers, we're going to do this the smart way, even overkill it a bit. I'll get the King to join us, he'll be a big help."

"What? No! He tried to kill Bucky!"

Tony raised an eyebrow at him. "For one, he didn't succeed, and two, he's not angry at Bucky anymore."

"Oh yeah? And why not?"

"Nobody told you? I thought somebody would have told you by now, we ran facial recognition on the fake doctor, Colonel Helmut Zemo, Sokovian Intelligence, traced his recent steps, and found the real Broussard dead in a Berlin hotel room, as well as a wig and facial prosthesis looking like your best buddy."

Steve didn't know how to feel when he heard that.

"You mean...?"

"Yep, one James Buchanan Barnes, successfully cleared of all charges in regards to the bombing in Vienna."

"That's, that's great, Tony."

Tony looked unimpressed with Steve's surprise.

"Told you you could trust me. Doesn't completely clear him though, he still has to answered for what he did as the Winter Soldier." Seeing that Steve was about to protest, he held up a hand. "Not saying it's his fault, he was clearly brainwashed, but you can't deny that it was his hands that killed those people. There are families who are going to want closure, he's going to have to testify, give a list of dates and names, talk to a psychiatrist, but he will be found not guilty in the end, he will not get in trouble for anything he did under coercion, Cap, I give you my word. Might have to be under surveillance until the Soldier can't be activated any more, but that's easy enough, I've already started preparing a room in the Compound. But that's all in the future, for now I need you to talk to your flying friend, we'll need all the help we can get."


	3. Heading to Siberia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final recruits, and let's go to Siberia! Plus, Tony and Wanda clear the air a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, another short chapter, but I'm ready for bed, so...
> 
> And clearly posting something every week isn't going to work for me. I'm going to aim for every other week, hopefully that works better. Probably only one chapter left in this story, then I'll start the sequel. Not going to comply with Infinity War, just so you know.

"Sam."

Sam pointedly stared in the opposite direction.

"Come on, Sam." Steve stepped in front of Sam's face. Sam swiveled his chair away again. Steve sighed. 

"Oh come on, Sam, just talk to me."

Sam lifted an eyebrow and looked at Steve for the first time. 

"In case this wasn't enough of a clue, I'm upset with you right now and seeing as you just want to convince me to sign the Accords, I see no reason to talk to you."

He looked away again.

"Fine, then don't talk. Just listen. You were concerned about the Accords forcing our hands, right? Using us as some kind of super powered government attack dog? Well, Tony explained it to me, and we have the right to refuse any mission we don't want to do, with no consequences. Plus, one of us will be able to help make the decision in the first place. It's not as bad as we thought it was going to be. But, Sam, come on. I don't want to do this without you. You were my first friend this century, the first person I really trusted. You trusted me to do the right thing back then, I just want you to trust that I'm doing the right thing now." 

Steve fell silent, not sure what else he could say to convince his friend. Sam sighed and rubbed a hand on his face. 

"You know I'll always trust you, man. But the Accords... Really? Are you sure about this?"

Feeling a surge of hope, Steve nodded eagerly. 

"I'm 100% positive, Sam."

Sam groaned. "Ok, fine, I'll sign. But if something fishy ever happens, I reserve the right to quit immediately, no penalties."

Steve grinned. "I'm sure Stark can add that to your paperwork."

Sam leaned forward. "Ok, so tell me about the fuss that happened earlier. Anything I can do to help?"

*****

"Hey, Romanoff, you spent some time with our Red Neighbours, ever heard anything about more than one Winter Soldier?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "There were a few whispers that came and went quickly, just after some of the top assassins disappeared. Very hush hush, though. Why? What have you learned?"

"Well, the newest addition to the frozen super soldier club claims that there are 5 of them, frozen in Siberia. If they were awakened, things wouldn't look too great for us. Apparently they're worse than he was."

Natasha nodded slowly. "I could see that. If they're whom I'm think of, they were some of the worst HYDRA had to offer. They wouldn't have had to be brainwashed like Barnes was. So what's the plan to deal with them?"

Tony grinned. "That's the fun part. Want to go recruit King Kitty? I need to talk to someone about the whole Wanda situation."

"I can do that. Steve know about it yet?"

"Yep, even managed to convince him to keep the killing to a minimum."

Natasha smiled, then left the room. Now that Tony was alone, he let the fake smile drop off his face and slowly rubbed his arm, it'd been aching lately. No time to dwell on it though, he had paperwork to complete and powerful people to sweet talk.

*****

Some hours later, the 8 super heroes who had signed the Accords sat on the Quin Jet. Instead of flying ahead on his own like he usually did, Tony was with the rest of the group so they could plan. They were halfway there and everyone knew what they were doing, but there was still a couple of hours to kill until they arrived, and the room was tense. 

Sam and Wanda sat on one side, with Steve and Vision bracketing them. T'Challa was in his own corner, and the last three, Rhodes, Natasha, and Tony, were on another bench. Wanda glared at Tony.

"I'm still not happy with you locking me in my room." She hissed. 

Tony sighed. "Is this really the best time for this?"

Her glare only intensified. 

"OK, fine, let's do it then." He leaned forward, his armour clanking as he rested his elbows on his knees. "Do you have an American visa?"

Wanda blinked, startled. She hadn't been expecting that. She quickly recovered, though. "I don't need a visa! I'm an Avenger!"

"Ok, that's a no, then. Now tell me, what would you do if you were attacked?" 

Once again, Wanda paused. She wasn't sure where Stark was going with this. Instead of waiting for her to come up with an answer, Tony kept going. 

"You'd defend yourself, right? You have that right, to protect yourself, and you're good at it too. If someone suddenly jumped you, you'd easily beat them, right?"

Wanda started to nod but stopped herself. She scowled and gestured at Stark to keep going. 

"And if you were surprised and expected a superhuman, you'd logically use enough force to keep a superhuman down. But what if it wasn't a superhuman?"

By this point everyone was staring at Tony, feeling uneasy but not sure why and waiting for him to make his point.

"What if it was just some random Joe, and you used so much force that it killed him?"

Wanda gasped. "I would never!"

Tony nodded agreeably. "Ok, you would never kill a random civilian. But what if 5 civilians attack you? 10? What if you're surrounded and they're not stopping and they're screaming at you and calling you names and you can't get away? What if there's so many that the only way to stop them is to stop them permanently? Would you just sit there and let them attack you, or would you defend yourself?"

Wanda stares at him uncertainly. She could almost understand his point, except for one thing. "But why on earth would you think someone would attack me like that?"

Tony shakes his head gravely. "You haven't been watching the news. People are unhappy about Lagos. I'm not saying it's your fault." He interjected quickly when Steve made a move to interrupt. "But the general public isn't logical. Sometimes they just choose someone to blame, and no matter how much I talk and explain things, they won't let it go. Right now, an awful lot of people are mad at you. There are riots in the streets. If you were to go out in public, I can't predict what they might do. And while you'd be well within your rights to defend yourself, you just know that they would twist the situation and it would make everyone even madder at you. And if enough people are mad, and if you don't have a visa and you haven't signed the Accords, the government might just agree to deport you."

At that, Wanda sits back, stunned. She'd made a home in America, she didn't want to leave it. Especially not the way Stark was describing. 

Steve put a hand on her shoulder and glared at Stark.

"You don't need to scare her like that! She's just a kid, they wouldn't do something like that to her."

Rhodes snorted. "What do you mean, she's just a kid? Weren't you younger than she was when you signed up to be a science experiment?"

Steve turned his glare to Rhodes and was about to retort when Wanda raised her hand.

"No, don't, Steve. It's OK. I need to hear this." Calmly, she turned to Stark. "So what were you planning on doing about it?"

Relieved that she was listening to reason, and that Rogers wasn't fighting him on this, Tony leaned back. 

"Well, I'd asked Vision to keep you away from the public for a bit, to let things die down a bit. And I've been in talks with a friend of mine who can fast track your visa application." He paused. "By the way, you have a visa application in the works."

Wanda just quirked her eyebrow at him, and he quickly moved on.

"My fabulous PR team at Stark Industries is working on a new public image for you, defending your good name and such, they're going to get in touch with you soon to get your opinion on how you want to be presented to the public. I was thinking a new charity, in your name, might be a good start. And kissing babies and hugging sick kids is always a great way to get some positive press. But the main thing now is that you signed the Accords, that's the best first step you could have taken. Now you just have to keep moving forward, saving lives and working with the Avengers." 

He stopped suddenly, that seemed like a good stopping point.

Wanda just nodded thoughtfully, staring off into the distance and thinking. The rest of the plane also fell in silence. Tony pulled out his phone and started tapping away, absentmindedly rubbing his arm again.

Later, Sam broke the silence. "Wait a minute, where's Clint? He'd have been helpful here."

Tony didn't even look up, absorbed in his work. "He made the choice to retire, I'm not dragging him away from his family just for this. We can handle it."

Sam frowned but didn't say anything else. Everyone was quiet for the rest of the trip, each of them distracted by their thoughts.

When they arrived at the abandoned HYDRA base, there was still no talking. They all had a job to do, and they knew what to do.

FRIDAY tried to scan for life signs, but the walls were too thick. 

"I guess we're doing this the old fashioned way, then." Tony announced.

Room by room, the group silently moved further into the building. They all had weapons, and were taking extra care to clear each room as they passed it, not wanting to risk missing a psychotic super soldier. 

There was only one path, so they stayed in one group. Vision stuck with them, not wanting to alert the Winter Soldiers sooner than necessary.

As each room turned up empty, tension started to build. Was this an ambush? They kept going, adrenaline pumping. Then they came across a heavy door, sturdier than all the rest they'd come across. Steve and Tony looked at each other. This was probably it. 

Deciding on surprise over stealth, Tony attached a small bomb to the door and blew it once everyone was safe. They poured into the room, guns at the ready.


	4. Supersoldiers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inside the bunker with the evil supersoldiers. And Zemo has one more trick up his sleeve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My goodness, I'm awful at updating. Life was crazy, but that's no excuse. But here you go! The final installment! Check out the notes at the end for info about the sequel.

"What on Earth?" Rhodes voiced what everyone was thinking. 

The room was cold, dark, and silent. Tony lifted a hand and shot something into the ceiling. It attached itself and then lit up, illuminating the entire room. It was barren, completely empty. There were no other doors and no place for anyone to hide. Either Barnes was wrong or the Winter Soldiers had been moved some time ago. 

Slowly, people started lowering their guns, still on the alert. Tony's helmet slid off as he looked around the room. 

"No heat signatures anywhere." He reported. 

"Check out the dust," Romanov said. "Clearly no one has been here in a while."

Tony frowned. Something about this didn't feel right. He started poking around the corners of the room. The others clustered together in small groups, trying to figure out if this was a trick, and what the next step should be. 

"Guys..." 

Stark's uncharacteristically solemn voice got everyone's attention immediately. They turned to Stark, who was standing in front of an upright cylinder, something they had previously dismissed as an odd architectural design choice. 

"Looks like we were too late. Or some might think, just in time." 

He stepped back, letting the others see that he'd wiped off a thick layer of dust. Steve frowned, not sure what he was looking at. He stepped forward, tilting his head. Then, things fell into place. His voice was hushed as he spoke his thoughts aloud.

"It's one of the Soldiers.... They didn't survive the freezing."

Everyone froze for a split second before rushing into action. Captain America, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, and Black Panther all headed towards a cylinder, of which, everyone was realizing, there were five of, while War Machine, Black Widow, and Vision lifted their weapons in preparation.  
Sam swore softly as he swiped at the glass with his hand and saw the desiccated body within.

"Mind's dead too."

"Same here."

"This one too."

"And this one."

Tony looked thoughtful. "Who knows how long they were here, unattended. At some point, the generator died and no one noticed. Without anyone to revive them properly, they just never woke up. Solves a lot of problems for us though!"

Steve looked askance at Tony's optimism but decided against saying anything.

"So now what?"

"Well, now that there's no imminent danger, it's up to the UN to decide what happens to their bodies. At least there's no risk of anyone getting the serum from...that." Tony said, gesturing at one of the bodies. "The forensic people will probably want to try to verify their identities, but the Avengers are no longer needed. The Russian government will probably want, and get, disposal rights. But really, we're done here. Who wants pizza?"

*****

The ride back home was quiet. It had been a long couple of days, and everyone was feeling the effects of an adrenaline crash. Tony had opted to ride back with them instead of flying ahead, as did Rhodes. The two of them alternated between chatting quietly and napping, leaving everyone else to their own resources. 

As team leader, Steve had spent the first bit preparing a report, as did Natasha, who liked getting paperwork out of the way. Wanda and Vision spent their time talking, mainly about the public's view of her. Having someone she liked and trusted explain matters to her helped her understand what she could do to help things change for the better, and she had a solid plan on how to fix things. 

Sam took opportunity of the free time to read through the Accords and make notes of what he wanted changed and improved. Overall though, it definitely wasn't as bad as he had expected. He could live with it, especially since Tony promised that things would change, even if due to buerocracy, it sometimes felt overwhelmingly slow. 

T'Challa also worked on paperwork, but his had to do with kingly responsibilities. Turns out, running away to get revenge for his father's death wasn't the most productive way to start his rulership. He was happy with the way things had turned out though. He hadn't killed an innocent man, and the real killer had been caught and would be brought to justice.

When the jet finally reached the Compound, Tony having offered a place for the King to stay for the night, everyone was tired but satisfied. They were ready to relax and eat some food, but first they had to fill out Form 9: the after action report. It was their least favorite part, but sadly it was a requirement. 

It was quite a sight to see the large group of superheroes, most of them still in their suits, louging around while doing paperwork. Tony finished first, just because he was all for The Accords hadn't increased his tolerance for paperwork, then started working on his phone after ordering some food for everyone.

One by one, as each hero finished and submitted it to the Accords council, they drifted to the living room. After the rush of adrenaline and the crazy intense day, they were all grateful to have some down time and were enjoying the company of others who knew exactly what that felt like. Steve was especially happy that Bucky had joined them.

Someone turned some music on, and someone else switched the TV and started flipping channels, looking for something good to watch. There was a lot of good natured bickering going on, and everyone had a smile on their face. 

FRIDAY announced that the food was here, and Tony told her to let the delivery man in. And come in he did, along with a ton of food. The table was groaning under the weight of it by the time it had all entered, but that much food was necessary for the large group of hungry people.

Silence fell as everyone loaded up a plate and started chowing down. The Incredibles was on, someone having left the TV on that channel and no one else complained. They were all content, glad that the day had gone as well as it had, when it all went to pieces.

The TV flickered before switching to a familiar face. Tony sat bolt upright.

"FRIDAY, trace that signal!"

Steve stared at the screen, having a bad feeling about this.

"Did Zemo escape? How is he doing that?"

Tony frowned grimly as he got Ross on the phone. Then Zemo started to speak.

"If you're seeing this, it's because my original plan didn't work. I've recorded this message in advance, and it's playing on every television in the country. The Avengers are a blight on mankind, and they need to be stopped."

"FRIDAY, stop that transmission!" Tony ordered, hanging up the phone, his question answered, and with more vital things to do at the moment.

She almost sounded frightened as she replied. "I, I can't..."

Tony tapped furiously on his phone as he tried to stop the video. He didn't know what was coming, but he knew it would be bad. Zemo continued his monologue.

"Some might say that's impossible, that it's been tried before and only resulted in failure. Thankfully, I'm not taking the route they did. A direct attack would never work. But what most don't know, is that they're already fractured. There are too many secrets between them for them to ever be a strong team. Here's one of them that the public, and the members involved, deserve to know. Stark, you might want to stop trying to stop this and watch closely."

Tony looked up slowly, fingers not stopping, but slowing down. "I know that road." He breathed.  
Barnes went white before straigtening up and assuming a neutral expression. He also recognized that road. Steve looked at both of them, dawning realization on his face. He moved in between the two, and closer to Bucky. The video kept playing and Tony stopped typing completely.

When it finished, the room was dead silent. Every eyeball was focused on either Stark or Barnes. When Tony finally did speak, though, it wasn't directed at the man who had killed his parents.

"Did you know?"

Steve hesitated. "I didn't know it was him."

Tony turns and looks at him. His face is unreadable, his voice is carefully controlled, like ice. 

"Don't test me Rogers. Did. You. Know."

Steve swallows. Looks down. Glances up. "...yes."

His eyes hard, Tony raises his hand. The repulsor that no one had seen arrive started to whir. Steve raises his arms, trying to protect Bucky, frantic. 

"It wasn't him, Tony! HYDRA was controlling him!" Barnes just stands there, not reacting, accepting whatever punishment is coming his way.

Tony smirks evilly, the first expression on his face since the video began. "It's not him I'm aiming at."

Rogers looks shocked, but doesn't stop trying to protect his friend. Sam steps forward, but Natasha stops him with one arm, staring intently at the scene before her. He stares at her in disbelief, but accepts her read of the situation. The rest of the room is frozen, not wanting to interfere.

The repulsor continues to charge, the whine loud in the room. Tony stares unblinkingly at Rogers, his hand steady. Suddenly, it shuts off and he drops his hand.

"Get off my property." He barks, and starts to leave the room. Steve takes a step towards him, desperate to explain.

""He's my friend, Tony. And, and so are you."

Tony snorts. "We're not friends. We're not even teammates. Not anymore." He walks towards the door again, then pauses. The rest of the room is still frozen. He turns and faces Barnes.  
"Do you even remember them?"

Barnes shifts incrementally, ashamed and uncomfortable, but having been trained to hide that. "I remember all of them." He replies hoarsely. 

Tony studies him a moment, then sneers at the two super soldiers. "You both should have died in the war." He strides out the room. After a moment of shocked silence, Natasha follows.

He's halfway down the hall, his hand on his chest. She trails behind him for a moment, trying to come up with something to say. Tony starts talking first, not looking at her. 

"Did you know?"

She hesitates, not wanting to get into that, but knows that if she wants to keep this relationship, she has to be honest. 

"I... suspected. He told me he should be the one to tell you, I agreed. I thought he'd do it immediately, I was wrong."

Tony still doesn't look at her, but she can sense a reduction of the tension in the air.

"Accepted, but not the best time to be making a defense."

She relaxes incrementally. She had never wanted to hurt Tony. Still a step behind him, she watches him carefully, wanting to help in some way, but with no idea how. He stops so suddenly she almost walks into his back.

"...are you OK?" No response. "Tony? What's wrong?"

Suddenly nervous, Natasha steps around him. His face is pale and sweaty, and he's still clutching at his chest. Then he collapses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the end! Hopefully I did the movie justice. 
> 
> OK, I have like 3 pages written for the beginning of the next book, but I have no clue when I'm going with it. So suggestions would be appreciated! I'll try to get some more done on it and get the first chapter up this week.
> 
> Also, please don't hate me for that ending :/


End file.
